bridgestone

The Super Bowl is coming up on February 7, and as usual TV Squad will have analysis of the game as well as predictions on whether Peyton Manning can handle the Saints' defense. Just kidding. Actually, we'll have analysis of the ads, including this one from Bridgestone titled "Whale of a Tale." Three guys and a whale in a truck.

Question: does this ad make you want to see the rest during the Super Bowl or will you completely forget about it and maybe just happen to see it because you're going to watch the Super Bowl anyway? Do these things work (and I guess I'm asking if the other kind of ad works, the TV commercial that tells you to go to a web site to see the conclusion of the ad. I hate those.)

A new column here at TV Squad, where we talk about all of the things you're missing when you hit fast forward on your DVRs.

I thought I'd kick off the very first Brought To You By...column by talking about yesterday's Super Bowl ads (apparently there was also a game of some sort played...). USA Today did their annual ranking of the best and worst of the ads, having a bunch of viewers watch the ads with meters and give an opinion on the good and the bad, and for some reason Bud got the top spot, the way they do every single year. It must be that the people who vote on these things like horses, wacky comedy, or they're all drunk (on Budweiser). The company got three of the top ten slots, and number one went to the spot where the dog trained the horse, accompanied by the Rocky theme. It's bad enough that Bud seems to win over viewers every year, but this dog/horse ad wasn't even the best of the Bud ads yesterday!

Anyway, I have my own thoughts on the best and worst, and I'll list them after the jump.

This was the funniest commercial I've sen all night. There wasn't quite as long of a buildup as the squirrel commercial earlier in the night, but it was equal to if not funnier.

It started out innocently enough. The driver did a great job avoiding the innocent little deer chilling haphazardly in the street.

Then it got interesting. I couldn't quite tell what I was looking at, then imagine my surprise when Alice Cooper was in crouching in the middle of the road holding a snake. Okay, that was a little random, but I guess that's pretty funny...what could possibly be next?

Took awhile to get there, but nevertheless a squirrel in the middle of the road, having just chased a nut there, screaming as a car is barreling down on it, followed by various other animals screaming in the forest until we ultimately get to the female passenger of the car screaming. The driver, however, simply maneuvers around the small animal and carries on his way. Good tires give you that kind of control. Great commercial, gets your attention, screaming animals are always funny and you'll remember it's all about the tires.